Rivals Steakhouse Coming To 5th & Trinity

I spotted this while walking this morning in the burgeoning Railyard District.

Rivals Steakhouse is under construction at the southwest corner of 5th & Trinity. This comes after more than three years of vacancy, since property owner Tim Finley refused to renew Paradox’s lease.

This isn’t the neighborhood’s vision for highest and best use of a downtown corner property, but, overall, most of the surrounding loft owners are pleased that it’s no longer vacant.

I wonder what the economics of steakhouses are because there seems to be a lot of them. If you would have asked me ten years ago where to buy a good steak in downtown Austin I would have instinctively said “Sullivans”.

Jude Galligan, REALTOR, Principal of REATX Realty and publisher of Downtown Austin Blog (aka. "DAB"), spends his time matching remarkable people with remarkable properties in Austin’s urban core. A resident owner in downtown Austin, Jude serves on the Board of the Downtown Austin Alliance (DAA) and the City of Austin Downtown Commission. Contact Jude.

This is great for what has become and eye sore in the area. It always does amaze though that folks complain about businesses and positive growth. They complained about Brooks Brothers, they complained Capital One. Businesses that occupy vacant buildings and create jobs, taxes, and positive growth are a good thing. Open 100 more steak house DT if adds to the vibrancy and desirability of DT.

@MP, last time I checked we don’t have 13 other Brooks Brothers in the same vicinity. Opening more steakhouses DOES NOT bring vibrancy to downtown… instead, it turns the city’s core into some dull theme park.

@ Nate. I am glad to at least hear it’s a local steak house, but all of the out of town/country guests I’ve had and known certainly don’t visit Austin in hopes of catching a steak restaurant–For the most part, it’s people visiting Austin, not Texas. Downtown has too many, and I don’t believe they do very well (from the looks of it).
I feel very strongly that we need more options for food & retail in Downtown….this is a stones throw from my home, and I can easily say I’ll never have a use for it.

Because we really do need MORE steak houses, wine bars, and fro yo. How on earth does stuff like this get approved?!?! Such a waste of prime real estate. They’re also covering the original facade with crap.

I understand being less than thrilled about another steak house; but, Rivals is a local business as opposed to a chain. So there is that to be thankful for. Also, I’m not sure there can be too many steak houses near the convention center. When people come to Texas from other parts of the country, they are going to want a steak. Particularly if their company is picking up the tab. Who knows, it might end up being your favorite restaurant. =)